The invention relates to a stroller that has a front wheel assembly that can be assembled by a consumer. More specifically, the stroller's front wheel assembly can be detached from the stroller frame for shipment and then assembled by the consumer upon receipt for use.
Children's strollers typically have structural frames that can be collapsed from a deployed, or use, configuration to a more compact, storage configuration. In the storage configuration, the extremities of the stroller can define a substantial volume. Strollers are packaged for shipment, distribution, and sale in the storage configuration. Since the cost of the packaging material, shipping, warehousing, etc. is related to the package volume, it is desirable to reduce the package volume. Accordingly, it has become common to package strollers partially disassembled, so that the stroller components require less volume than the assembled stroller. The end user, or consumer, assembles the stroller after removing the components from the package.
Taiwan Patent Publication No. 168064 discloses a stroller that is shipped in a partly disassembled configuration and which is assembled by the consumer for use. The patent publication discloses several parts which may be removed from the stroller frame for reducing the shipping volume of the stroller in order to reduce costs. The parts of the stroller that can be disassembled for shipment and then assembled by the consumer for use after receipt are the push handle, the front castors, a rear wheel assembly, and a storage basket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,980 to Schwartz discloses a connector for connecting component sub-assemblies to a stroller frame in order to provide for ease in removing the sub-assemblies should they require repair. The sub-assemblies that are disclosed for interconnection to the frame are front castors, the handle assembly, and the front gate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,880 to Sudakoff et al. generally discloses a three wheel stroller that contains interconnectable frame segments that permit the stroller to be disassembled by the user to provide for a compact configuration for storage. The patent discloses that an infant support frame segment, a front fork segment, and rear axle segments are capable of disassembly and assembly by the user.
Whereas the Taiwan patent publication discloses disassembly of components from a stroller frame to reduce package volume, the disclosure related to removable wheels only provides for the removal of the front and rear wheels themselves and the rear axle assembly. Typically, and as in the Taiwan patent publication and the '980 patent, where the front wheels and the rear wheels/rear axle assembly are removable from the stroller frame, the wheels/axle assembly are part of an integrally formed castor or connector where the castor or connector is merely fitted onto the stroller's frame. Removal of the wheels/axle assembly from the stroller's frame by disconnecting the castor or connector provides for a reduction in the package volume for some stroller configurations. However, in many stroller configurations, the outer-most structure of the stroller in one dimension is defined by framing structure associated with the front wheels and not solely by the wheels themselves, so that removal of the wheels and/or axle assembly does not result in a reduction for this dimension. Consequently, this dimension's effect on the package volume required for the container is unchanged by removal of the wheels and/or axle assembly alone. In these stroller configurations, where the front wheel assembly defines the outer-most structure of the stroller in one dimension, package volume reductions can only be obtained in this dimension by removing the front wheel assembly, which includes all framing structure associated with the front wheels that contributes to defining this dimension.
The framing structures that can be associated with the front wheels, and thus comprise the component of the front wheel assembly that defines one dimension of the package volume for the stroller, are the stroller's lower front leg tubes and a footrest, if provided, that is attached to the lower front leg tubes. In the present invention, the front wheel assembly, which includes the front leg tubes and optional footrest, and not just the wheels themselves, is removed from the stroller's frame in order to reduce the package volume of the stroller.
The '880 patent discloses frame assemblies that can be disassembled from, and assembled to, a stroller's frame in order to provide for ease of storage of the stroller. The stroller disclosed in the '880 patent is comprised of a simple frame structure that contains few hinged joints. Disassembly of the frame structure as disclosed in the '880 patent for the stroller frame configuration disclosed is a relatively simple task. However, disassembly as taught by the '880 patent is limited in application to this particular, simple frame structure. For stroller configurations where multiple hinged joints are required, disassembly/assembly of the stroller frame at locations between major frame-fold linking points (i.e. within the main body of the stroller rather than at frame locations outside the frame-fold linking points), as taught by the '880 patent, would add prohibitively to the complexity of the task of assembling the stroller for the consumer and is not feasible. Disassembly of the stroller at locations as taught by the '880 patent is only feasible in the most basic of stroller frame configurations and cannot be reliably accomplished by a consumer in stroller configurations where multiple hinged joints are provided.
Therefore, based on the inapplicability of the known techniques for reducing the shipping volume of a stroller, in stroller configurations where, when the stroller is folded for shipment, the front wheel assembly is the stroller's outer-most structure that defines at least one dimension for the package volume of the stroller, it would be advantageous to remove the front wheel assembly from the frame of the stroller in order to provide for a reduced package volume for the now disassembled, folded stroller. This front wheel assembly disassembly/assembly occurs at a location on the frame such that the complexity of the task of disassembly/assembly of the front wheel assembly for the consumer is minimized.